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7/31/2019 Caption What I'm Saying: How television commercials that are not closed captions lose millions in potential revenue
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CAPTIONWHATIMSAYING:HOWTELEVISIONCOMMERCIALSTHATARENOT
CLOSEDCAPTIONEDLOSEMILLIONSINPOTENTIALREVENUE
by
RACHELKAYBURTON
Dr.MaraMills,FacultyAdvisor
AthesissubmittedinpartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsfortheDegreeofMasterofArts
inMedia,Culture,andCommunicationfromtheSteinhardtSchoolofCulture,Education,andHumanDevelopment
NEWYORKUNIVERSITY
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TableofContentsI.Introduction..........................................................................................................................2II.LiteratureReview................................................................................................................6III.DataAnalysis&Discussion...........................................................................................10IV.Conclusion.........................................................................................................................36V.Bibliography.......................................................................................................................40VI.Appendices........................................................................................................................41
AppendixA(Commerciallinks)........................................................................................41
AppendixB(Codingtable)...............................................................................................42
AppendixC(Completesurveydata)................................................................................45
1.AllyBank.....................................................................................................................45
2.AT&T..........................................................................................................................50
3.Clairol.........................................................................................................................55
4.Dennys......................................................................................................................60
5.Ghirardelli..................................................................................................................65
6.Hallmark....................................................................................................................70
7.Hellmanns.................................................................................................................76
8.JCPenney....................................................................................................................80
N i id 8
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I.INTRODUCTIONClosed captioninghasmade increased appearances on screens inpublic spaces,
butnotallprogramsarecaptioned.Inspaceswhereaudioisdifficulttounderstand,i.e.,
inanairportoratavern,viewersmaymissoutonthecompletemessage,especiallyinthe
caseof
commercials.
Thus,
advertisers
lose
potential
hearing
customers,
as
well
as
deaf
andhardofhearingcustomers,whentheydonotcaptiontheircommercials.According
toastudyconductedbytheGallaudetResearchInstitute,anywherefrom37to140outof
every 1,000Americans have a degree of hearing loss (Mitchell 2005). Calculating this
againsttheJuly2011U.S.Censusof311,591,917Americans,apossible43,622,868Americans
arenotbeingreachedbyadvertisers.Manytelevisedcommercialsrequireeitherhearing
orcaptioning for theirmessagestobeclear,althoughsomeadvertisershaveexcelledat
mediatingtheirmessagewithouttheuseofwords.
Some genres seem to require captioning,while others lend themselves to clear
visualmessages.Commercials that sell consumerproducts, e.g. chocolatedesserts, are
clearerthanadvertisementsthatsellaservice,e.g.banking.Severalquestionsarisehere,
threein
particular:
What
constitutes
astrong
visual
commercial
that
does
not
require
supplementationof speechor text?Howdoes themutingof soundaffect the intended
messageof an audiovisual commercial? Is the image of thebrand themost important
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Disability, Graham Pullin (93) describes this strategy as resonant design a term
representingdesign
that
considers
the
needs
of
some
people
with
aparticular
disability
and other peoplewithout that disability but perhaps finding themselves in particular
circumstances.
There isnotmuch research about closed captioning in commercials,but in the
broader field of television, closed captioning has only been studied for programming
longer than30minutes.Captioningwas firstmadeavailable inhomes in 1984with the
TeleCaption decoder, an external apparatus that enabled closed captioning on any
television. In 1990 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) worked with
Congresstopassa lawthatrequiredbuiltincaptioningforalltelevisions largerthan13
inchesmanufacturedafterJuly1993.Theyhavesinceaddeddigitaltelevisiontothelistof
requiredcaptionedprogramming,making it theresponsibilityof thecontentproducers
toimplement
captioning.
The FCCs Guide to Closed Captioning categorizes English language television
programming into two groups: prerule (analog programming dated beforeJanuary 1,
1998anddigitalprogrammingshownbeforeJuly1,2002),andnew(datingafterJanuary1,
1998foranalogandJuly1,2002fordigital).Allnewprogrammingmustbecaptionedand
75%ofpreruleprogrammingmustbecaptioned,withtwoexceptions:selfimplementing
exemptions and economically burdensome exemptions. Selfimplementing exemptions
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communitybulletinboards).Exemptionsforeconomicalburdenscanbepetitionedtothe
FCCand
determined
on
acase
by
case
basis.
However,televisioncommercialsarenotrequiredtofollowtheFCCsedictsdueto
their short length (most commercials are approximately 30 seconds long).As a result,
onlyahandfulofcommercialsontelevisionarecaptioned.Thisisunfortunatebecausein
itsonlinecaptioningguide,theFCCstatesthatcaptioning isextremelyhelpfulnotonly
for deaf people but also for individuals whose native language is not English, by
improving comprehension, fluency, and literacy skills. Thus, I argue the broad
importanceofclosedcaptioningandvisualcommunicationintelevisionadvertising.
InAmusingOurselves toDeath,NeilPostman (127) suggests that the television
commercial[has]madelinguisticdiscourseobsoleteasthebasisforproductdecisions.I
willargue,to thecontrary, that linguisticdiscourse isstillnecessary foradvertisements
ontelevision
in
the
form
of
audio,
since
people
who
cannot
hear
the
auditory
component
willnotbeable to receive themessage that the commercial sends.RaymondWilliams
writes inseveralessays, includingAdvertising:TheMagicSystem,thatadvertisements
seemstobemagicintheirabilitytoinstantaneouslyevokefeelings,forinstancewhena
brandnamelogoisflashedontelevisionorwhenaparticularadvertisingjingleisheard.
The relationship between the advertisement and the receiver has been extensively
studied.As one example, in Television and New Media Audiences, Ellen Seiter (28)
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connect to each other and supportmy research question. Thiswaymy codeswill be
replicable,for
as
Rose
says,
it
is
upon
the
integrity
of
the
link
between
careful
thought,
context,text,andcodethatvalidityrests(Rose60).
The finalstep incontentanalysis involvesdissecting,analyzing,and interpreting
results.Rosedescribes this step as approachablebymanydifferent frequency tracking
methods. The simplestway is to go through every image and attach codes to them,
ultimately selecting the frequencies that are most relevant to my theoretical and
empiricalframework(Rose63).Icomparemycodingtabletoviewerresponses,andthen
interprettheresults,inthediscussionsectionofthisthesis.
II.LITERATUREREVIEWMichel Chion determines inAudioVision: Sound on Screen that text structures
vision onscreen.However, for Chion (6), text apparently alsomeans sound or the
Word, asheputs it.As aDeaf person, text ispurelyvisual forme,but I gather from
Chions rationalization thatone cannot grasp the entiremeaningby simply looking at
images
on
screen.
There
must
be
some
type
of
supplemental
information,
such
as
music,
voiceovers, onscreen text, or even closed captioning.As he puts it, if the television
screenseemstospeakforitself,itisactuallyaventriloquistsspeech(Chion7).
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temporality of images on television. For instance, a smooth and continuous sound is
moresoothing
and
moves
more
slowly
than
an
uneven,
fluttering
beat.
The
speed
of
the
musiccaneitherslowdownorspeedupthe temporalaspectof thecommercial for the
viewerthatisabletohearit.
Chion (26) identified three types of listening that audienceviewers partake in:
casual, semantic, and reduced listening. Casual listening, themost commonmode of
listening,consistsoflisteningtoasoundtogatherinformationaboutitssource.Semantic
listening is thatwhich refers to a code or a language to interpret amessage: spoken
language,ofcourse,aswellasMorsecodeandmanyothers,whilereduced listening is
themode that focuseson the traitsof thesound itself independentof itscausesand
meaning.
These threemodes of listening can be applied tovisual listening to television
commercials.Those
who
listen
with
their
eyes,
such
as
deaf
people,
can
tune
their
eye
focus accordingly whether they want to casually collect information, listen to and
interpretmessages,orlookdeeperattheimageandfocusonindividual,basicaspectsof
thecommercial.
Alackofverbalinformationcannonethelessdiminishtheimpactofacommercial,
especiallyintermsofcommunicatingacompanysslogan.Oftentimes,slogansarespoken
verbally,andPaulMessarisassertsthiscannotbedismissedassimplyamatterofverbal
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Becauseof its capacity for theexplicit expressionof comparisons, causal
relationships,and
other
syntactic
constructions,
verbal
language
is
more
efficient than are images at encapsulating the basic propositions and
argumentsonwhichadvertisingcampaignstendtobebased.Yetmaking
anexplicitstatementistypicallynotenough(Messaris1634).
Thus language pulls images together, or can give multiple meanings to an
advertisement.AsJudithWilliamsonsaid,itislanguagethatcracksopenthecodeandis
the basic element in creating a hermeneutic of the advertisement: Language is the
primaryReferentSystemusedinads,inthatwebringourunderstandingofittothead,it
is a system of meaning whose frame the ad can use, but does not generate. Our
knowledgeofitcanbemanipulated.Intelevisioncommercials,languagefunctionsasa
signin
itself
capable
of
double
meanings.
Language
is
used
to
invoke
certain
worlds
and
framesofreferencetocreatealternatemessages,eithertocounteractorsupplementthe
images(Williamson86).
TheNationalCaptioningInstitute(NCI)iswellawareofthisfact.Theyhavebeen
amajor player in pushing for closed captioning legislation,but found that advertisers
werereluctanttospendmoneyoncaptioningtheiradvertisements.AsGregoryDowney
(216)explains,NCItriedtoattractmoreadvertisersbyofferingabargainbasementrate
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was successful,withmore than 100 televisionadvertisersclosedcaptioningat leastone
commercialonly
ayear
later.
Ultimately, themain deterrent for advertisers to caption commercialswas not
cost,buttime.AccordingtoDowney(217)in1990,theaveragecommercialwithnofrills
costabout$200,000.Addingclosedcaptioningwouldbeadropintheocean.Itwastime
that held advertisers back from captioning their entire programming. As AdWeek
explained, theonlyads thatarenotclosedcaptionedarequickturnaround spots that
corporationswanttogetontheairrightaway.NCItooknoticeofthisandestablisheda
fortyeighthour surcharge and even opened its New York office in 1985 to provide
overnightservice,wherecommercialshadtobeinby5p.m.tobeoutby10a.m.thenext
day. However, NCI could never come up with the necessary proof that captioned
commercialsactuallyincreasedsalesforvendors.
DespiteNCIs
efforts,
when
the
FCC
was
reviewing
captioning
legislation,
broadcasters started a flurryof requests forblanket exemptions for commercials, local
sportsandpromos,aswellasanyprogrammingwheretheviewershipwaslow.Newsand
informationchannelsarguedthatthetextontheirscreenswassufficienttoexemptthem
fromcaptioningrequirements.However,theFCCsfinalrulinginAugust1997mandated
a10yearperiodwhere95%ofnewshowsmustbecaptionedbythefirstquarterof2006
andtheFCCexemptedanyandalladvertisementslessthanfiveminuteslong,aswellas
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All in all, theNationalAssociationofBroadcasterswaspleasedwith the
rules,but
the
National
Association
for
[sic]
the
Deaf
was
not.
NAD
executive directorNancy Bloch argued that the exemptionswould allow
hugegapsinprogrammingandthat,inparticular,theregulationallowing
local electronic newsroom captioning in place of stenocaptioningwould
result in denialofvideoaccessbydeafandhardofhearingpeopleto live
interviews, sports and weather updates and other latebreaking stories
(Downey237).
TheFCC respondedwith labor shortageasa reason, toallow sufficient time for
captioningcompaniestorecruitandtraincaptioners.However,afterafewyearstheFCC
realized that realtime stenocaptioners could work in remote locations over
telecommunicationsnetworks
(telework)
and
toughened
its
rulings.
In
September
1998,theFCCamendeditspreviousregulationtomandatethatallprogramming,notjust
95%,becaptionedby2006.Thisincludedlivenewscaptioning(Downey237).
In 1994,GallaudetUniversitysMarkGoldfarbarguedbeforeCongressabout the
necessity forclosedcaptioningandhow itservesabroadgroupofpeople,notjust the
deafpopulation: Closed captioning is like the sidewalkcurb cut in that ithelpsmany
groupsofpeople,notonlyindividualswhoaredeaforhardofhearing.Nearly100million
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viewers in situations where the audio track couldnt be heard for various reasons.
Nevertheless,advertisements
remain
exempt
from
the
FCCs
regulations.
III.DATAANALYSISANDDISCUSSIONThe data collected in this studywas obtained through an online survey,where
respondentswere completely anonymous. The linkwas distributed through word of
mouth,viaemail,andonsocialmedia.Therewere10commercialsthatwereshowntwice
each,oncewithoutsoundnorclosedcaptioning,andoncewithoutsoundbutwithclosed
captioning.The
commercials
used
in
the
survey
were
pre
recorded
during
the
time
period
of7p.m.to12a.m.onFriday,February11,overtheaironWJLATV,theCBSaffiliatein
Washington, D.C. Commercials were selected on the basis of already being closed
captioned; the captions were then removed from the commercials using encoding
softwareforsurveypurposes.Thebrandsareasfollows,intheorderinwhichtheywere
displayedinthesurvey:
1. AllyBank2. AT&T3. Clairol
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8. JCPenney9. Nationwide10.WalgreensThesecommercialscanbeviewedbyusingthelinksprovidedinAppendixA.Figure1.ViewerresponsestoWhatistheslogan?Commercial First viewing (correct
responses)Second viewing (correctresponses)
ChangeAllyBank 18(42%) 26(60%) +8AT&T 16(37%) 21(49%) +5Clairol 23(54%) 19(44%) 4Dennys 29(67%) 33(77%) +4Ghirardelli 34(79%) 37(86%) +3Hallmark 22(51%) 22(51%) 0Hellmann 17(40%) 30(70%) 6JCPenneys 0(0%) 0(0%) 0Nationwide 5(12%) 25(58%) +20Walgreens 29(67%) 33(77%) +4
Figure2.Rankingthevisualclarityofeachcommercialonascaleof1to10.Commercial Mean Mode
AllyBank 6 7AT&T 4 3Clairol 7 7Dennys 7 7Ghirardelli 6 7Hallmark 4 2Hellmann 6 5JCPenneys 4 3Nationwide 5 2Walgreens 6 5
(1isveryweak,and10isverystrong)
Figure3.ViewerresponsestoDidtheclosedcaptioningchangethecommercialsmeaningforyou?Commercial Yes No MajorityAllyBank 53%(23) 47%(20) YESAT&T 86%(37) 14%(6) YESClairol 49%(21) 51%(22) NODennys 60%(26) 40%(17) YES
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Eachcommercialviewing,20 intotal,was followedby fourquestions.Followingthe
noncaptioned
commercials,
viewers
were
asked
what
the
product
or
service
being
sold
is,
whatthesloganis(asshowninFigure1),andwhatthemessagethecreatorsaretryingto
send is.Respondentswerealsoasked to rank thevisualclarityof thecommercialona
scale from 1 to 10 (where 1wasveryweak,and 10verystrong),as reflected inFigure2.
Afterviewing the captioned commercials, respondentswere asked the same questions
withtheexceptionofthe lastone,whichwaschangedtowhethertheclosedcaptioning
altered the meaning of the commercial for the respondent, shown in Figure 3.
Respondents were allowed space to comment if the meaning had indeed changed.
Viewersalsocommentedonhow themessagesweredifferentafterthe firstandsecond
viewings, and their answers to what the slogans were changed after watching the
commercialswithcaptioning.Allinall,43surveyswerecompleted.
1. AllyBankTheAllyBankcommercial featuredcustomer frustrationwithablender rather
thantheservicebellatadrycleanertoshowhowAllyBankhaslivehumanstotalkto
youratherthanamachine.Theirslogan isNononsense,justpeoplesense,whichwas
bothspokenanddisplayedonscreen.
When askedwhat theproduct or servicebeing soldwas, 25 respondents (58%)
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eightparticipants,or88%,answeredcorrectlyandonlyfive(12%)answeredsomething
otherthan
bank
or
banking
services.
The second question asking what Ally Banks slogan was garnered 18 correct
responses(42%)while theother25 (58%)got it incorrect.With thecaptionedviewing,
thenumberofcorrectanswersincreasedto26(60%),leaving13(40%)stillinthedark.
Thirdly,respondentswereaskedwhattheythinkthemessagethatthecreatorsare
tryingtosend is.Afterthenoncaptionedviewing,only32(74%)correctlyguessedthat
AllyBankoffershumaninteractionforcustomerserviceinsteadofautomatedmachines.
The other 11 (26%) guessed talking to a blender is annoying, or to get aworkers
attentionusetheblender.However,all43respondents,or100%,answeredcorrectlyafter
thecaptionedviewing.
After the firstviewing, respondents ranked thevisual clarity of the commercial
withamean
of
6and
amode
of
7.
Watching
the
commercial
with
closed
captioning
changedthemeaningfor23people,or53%,justmorethanhalfoftherespondents.Out
ofthese23peopleforwhomthemeaningdidchange,manycommentedthattheydidnot
realizethecommercialhadanarratordoingthevoiceover.Foroneperson,Ithoughtit
was to go to some dry cleaning place, but now I see its trying to advertise a bank.
Anotherpersoncommented,IlearnedthatAllyisabank.
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parentswatching theiryoung son playing on a tablet, and literally spelling out their
wordsabout
how
concerned
they
were
that
the
son
would
break
the
phone.
Watchingthenoncaptionedversion,allrespondentswereabletogetageneral idea
ofwhattheproductorservicebeingsoldwas.Answersvariedfromtablettosmartphone
andfromcellphonetowirelesstabletbutfive(12%)answeredthequestionwithiPad.
With closedcaptioningonlyoneperson stillanswered iPad,andoneotheranswered
game. The other 41 (95%) answered correctlywith avariation of Element tablet,
leavingonly5%incorrect.
Theirslogan,Rethinkpossibilities,wasguessedcorrectlyby16people(37%)andthe
other27(63%)includedanswerssuchas,Buyanelement,Havenoclue,Thekidcan
learnlotsbyusingthetablet,Keepkidsoutoftrouble,getthematablet,andIdont
remember seeing any. The captionedviewing helped increase the number of correct
responsesto
21
(49%).
However,
comments
after
the
second
viewing
show
that
some
peoplecompletelymissedtheslogan,ordidnotrealizetheysawit.Onepersonanswered
Canwestopspelltalking?whenaskedwhatthesloganwas.AnotherrespondedBuyit
andgetsmart.
According to the respondents, thenoncaptionedviewing showed that themessage
theAT&TcreatorsweretryingtosendwasthatiPadisthenewbabysitter,thekidmay
be tooyoung toplaywith the tablet, kidsneedexpensive toys,or theparentsseem
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get it. The other 42 respondents, or 98%, answeredwithvariations of purchase this
tabletfrom
AT&T
that
is
educational
for
children
and
waterproof,
and
get
afree
phone.
The visual clarity of the commercial was ranked at 4 with a mode of 3. Closed
captioningchangedthemeaning for37(86%)oftheparticipants,whocommentedthat
theadditionofcaptioningprovidedessentialinformationabouttheElementtabletbeing
a strong, tough product that is educational for children.Comments also included I
wasntsurewhatwasgoingonandwhatwasbeingsoldbutthecaptionsclarified it,I
thought itmeant easy to usewhen it actuallymeant protection, Somuch clearer! I
understoodthattheElementwasntanapp,andthatitwaswaterproof,andIammore
interestedinresearchingtheElementnow.
3. ClairolThe
Clairol
commercial
featured
awoman
in
an
elevator,
looking
at
gray
roots
in
her
reflection inthemirror.Awomanappearsoutof thinair in theelevatorwithaNicen
Easy root touchup product, and the commercial endswith their slogan Your right
color,displayedonthebottomofthescreenbutnotspoken.
Bothtimes,100%ofrespondentswereabletoidentifytheproductbeingsoldasahair
rootcoloringtouchupproduct.However,onlyslightlymore thanhalf(23respondents,
or53%)correctlystatedClairolssloganafterwatchingitsanscaptioning,whiletheother
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viewingthecommercialwithcaptions,statedNiceandeasyastheslogan.Oneperson
commentedthat
the
closed
captioning
covered
up
the
slogan.
Commentsfromtherespondentsaboutthemessagethecreatorsweretryingtosend
includedClairol isquickandeasy,touchupyourhair,andourproductmeetsyour
needs.Onepersonsaid Easy touse?Even inanelevator?after the firstviewing,and
thenchangedittoLastslongerafterthesecondviewing.ThevisualclarityoftheClairol
commercialwasrankedwithameanof7andamodeof7.
Closed captioning changed themeaning of the commercial for 21 (49%) of the 43
respondents.Theparticipantwhowonderedabout theproductbeingeasy touse inan
elevator commented that the closed captioning helped her or him to realize that the
elevator mirror was just a visual effects thing, not an actual application
method/timeframe. One respondent said that a decisionwasmade to purchase the
productthanks
to
the
captioned
phrase
seamless
match,
while
another
said
I
will
rememberit,andyetanothercommentedAlotofthebenefitsandsellingpointsofthe
productweremissedwithouttheclosedcaptioning.
4. DennysDennys, the nationwide dinerstyle restaurant chain, introduced their sizzlin
skillets thatcouldbe served forbreakfast, lunch,anddinner,oreven fordessert.The
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bottom.Theirslogan is AmericasDiner isAlwaysOpen,whichwasbothspokenand
unspoken.
Fifteen people (35%) correctly recognized the specific product being sold in the
commercialas sizzling skillets. Theother28 (65%) responses included fast food ina
dinersetting,breakfast,ameal,andjusttheirfood.Thesecondtimearound,only10
people(23%)
did
not
specify
the
sizzling
skillets
that
the
other
33
(77%)
did.
Many
people
mentionedthefactthattheskilletswereavailableforalimitedtimeonly,whichwasnot
mentionedinthefirstviewing.
Thesloganwasansweredcorrectlyby29people,or67%,andof theother 14(33%),
more than half (8 people)were unsure of the slogan.Afterwatching itwith closed
captioning,33people(77%)wereabletogetthesloganright,while10people(23%)did
notanswercorrectly.ThepeoplewhodidnotanswerAmericasDinerisAlwaysOpen,
insteadanswered
with
avariation
of
sizzlin
skillets
are
here
for
alimited
time
only.
Themessage the creatorswere trying to send to the respondents isgenerally to
comeand tryournew foodatDennys,which isalwaysopen24hours,7daysaweek.
None of themmentioned that the skilletswere for a limited only.After the second
viewing,26
people
or
60%
added
that
fact
in
their
comments.
The
visual
clarity
of
the
Dennyscommercialwasrankeda7withamodeof7.
Theadditionofclosedcaptioningchangedthemeaningfor26people(60%)the
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Iwrong!WiththeclosedcaptioningIrealizedthatthisisaspecialforalimitedtimeonly!
Wow!Another
said,
When
they
said
it
is
alimited
edition,
it
urged
me
to
go
to
Dennys
ASAP.
5. GhirardelliThis
chocolatiers
commercial
showed
awoman
eating
apiece
of
Ghirardelli
chocolate
toasongthatencouragedyoutoeattheirchocolatetorewardyourself.Theirsloganwas
bothspokenanddisplayedonscreenasMomentsoftimelesspleasure.
Allof the respondents answered theproductbeing sold as chocolatepieces.When
askedwhatthesloganwas,34(79%)answeredcorrectlywhiletheother9(21%)answered
eitherGhirardelli,GhirardelliSanFrancisco,orwereunsure.Withclosedcaptioning,
37people(86%)gotitrightand6(14%)didnot.GuessesincludedRewardyourselfwith
ourchocolate,
For
all
the
things
you
do,
and
Delicious!
The creators of theGhirardelli commercial failed to reach one respondentwithout
closed captioning, who answered ? when asked what the message was. The other
participants agreed thatGhirardelli chocolatewas delicious andyummy, but after the
secondviewing
added
that
the
chocolates
were
to
be
seen
as
areward
or
abreak
from
whatyouweredoing.Overall,21people (49%) felt thatclosedcaptioningchanged the
meaning for them,while22people (51%)didnot.Commentson the closedcaptioning
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it was just chocolate, and With closed captioning, it convinced me to buy these
products.
6. HallmarkHallmarks commercial featured amontage of people sayingwhat theywant to be
told,such
as
Tell
me
you
miss
me,
and
Tell
me
you
love
me,
to
advertise
their
cards
so
youcan tellpeoplewhat theywant tohear forValentinesDay.Thecommercialended
with their slogan, Life is a special occasion,whichwas displayed onscreen but not
spoken.
All the respondents identified the product being sold asHallmark cards, but one
respondentadded Cardwithprerecordedvoicemessages.TheHallmark commercial
seemed to have more than one slogan to some respondents, who answered either
Everyone
has
something
they
need
to
hear,
or
Vow
to
tell
them
this
Valentines
Day.
After bothviewings, the correct sloganwas answered by 22 people (51%). The same
peoplewhogotitwrongthefirsttimealsogotitwrongthesecondtime,andviceversa.
Whenaskedwhatmessagethecreatorsweretryingtosend,sevenpeoplewereunsure
andother
answers
varied
from
Everyone
has
something
to
say,
Tell
people
stuff
probablynicestuffwhileyoucanatfirstIthoughtitwasforinsurance,andThatyou
needtotellsomeonehowyoufeelintheformofacard,toPeoplelikecardswithvoices
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ClosedcaptioningchangedthemeaningoftheHallmarkcommercialfor34people,or
79%
of
the
respondents.
It
helped
make
the
commercial
more
personal
and
touching
for
manyrespondents,withonesaying:
At thebeginning,Ithought itwassomekindofdrugfreecommercialor
somethingrelated
to
adisease
or
acause.
Then
when
it
ended
with
the
Hallmarklogo,Iknewitwascards.ButiftherewasnologoorIdidntknow
the brand, I probablywould not really recognize the commercial for a
greetingcardcompany.Withthecaptioning, itjustreachesoutandgrabs
yourheart,andmakesyougoawwandinstantlythinkofsomeonewhois
inthatpositionwithyou
Another
person
commented
on
how
the
closed
captioning
finally
gave
context
to
the
talking heads!One commenter said that therewere very fewvisual cues during the
commercialandthefastpacemadeitdifficulttofollow.
7. HellmannsTheHellmanns commercialdepicted theirjarofmayonnaiseandamother feeding
hertwochildrenparmesancrustedchickenoutoftheoven,madewithHellmannsmayo.
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itdifferent.Upon furtherresearchontheHellmannswebsite,thesloganwas foundto
be
Make
it
real,
make
it
different.
Alltherespondents identifiedtheproductbeingsoldasHellmannsmayoafterboth
viewings.The slogan in the first commercialwas confusing for the respondents, as 17
people (40%)correctlyansweredwith Make it real,make itdifferent,while 13people
(30%)answered
with
Bring
out
the
Best.
The
other
13
people
were
either
unsure
or,
as
one said, Their mayo brings out the flavor in the meal. After viewing the same
commercialwith closed captioning, 30people (70%) correctly answered Make it real,
makeitdifferent.Sevenpeople(16%)answeredwithBringouttheBest,whileonesaid
Hellmann,andanothersaidheorshemissedit.
ThatyoucanusethebesttastingHellmannsmayoinrecipes,toenhanceflavor,was
first cited as themessage the creatorswere trying to send by 27 people (63%),which
increased
to
37
people
(86%)
after
viewing
the
commercial
with
closed
captioning.
After
the firstviewing,onepersonmentioned theHellmannswebsite thathasmore recipes,
and after the second viewing six people added the website in their comments. A
respondentincludedthecommentafterthecaptionedviewingthatBeautifulpeopleuse
Hellmannsmayonnaise
to
make
delicious
foods.
Find
more
recipes
at
Hellmanns
website.
Overall,theclosedcaptioningchangedthemeaningfor23(54%)oftherespondents,
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completelydisgusting toputmayo on chicken,but the captionsmade it clear its a
recipe
not
just
plain
mayo.
One
even
said
Ill
try
cooking
with
mayo.
8. JCPenneyTheJCPenneycommercialwasamontageofdifferentwinter scenes,where the last
scenewas
of
agirl
on
aseesaw
while
the
snow
is
melting
all
around
her.
The
montage
endedwith thewords lotsof february to loveatjcp, then closedwith their logo.No
sloganwas stated.Upon further researchon theJCPenneywebsite, itwas found tobe
Fairandsquare.Theproductorservicebeingsoldinthiscommercialfailedtoreachfourpeopleafter
thefirstviewing,but39people(91%)saidavariationofClothesfromJCPenney. After
thesecondviewing,onepersonsaidLove,whileanothersaidNoidea,andtheother41
people
(95%)
mentioned
clothes.
However,
one
comment
said
Nothing
is
specifically
sold,butIamassumingtheclothesusedinthecommercialarebeingsoldatJCPenneys.
Therewas no explicit slogan in the commercial, so at first 28 people (65%)were
unsure,andtheother15(35%)answeredwithlotsoffebruarytoloveatjcp.Thesecond
timearound,
16
people
(37%)
still
answered
lots
of
february
to
love
at
jcp,
and
the
rest
were still unsure. JCPenneys commercialwas ranked forvisual clarity at 4,with the
modebeing3.
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seemedtoconfusetherespondentsfurther.SomecommentedthatTheyaremarketing
JCPenneys.
Nothing
about
sales?
One
person
said
You
can
survive
cold
weather
with
something,Imnotsurewhat,andanothersaidItsprettyunclear.Thatyoucangetcool
stuffthere.Manywerestillunsure.
Closedcaptioningdidnotchangethemeaningfor27(63%)oftheviewers,withmany
commentingthat
that
commercial
itself
was
unclear,
and
adding
captions
did
not
make
a
difference.However,somecommentedthatthecaptionedsongaddedsomebackground
and tone to the scenes.One person commented, I didnt realize itwas set tomusic.
There are probably some Valentines Day clothing and gift options at JCPenneys.
AnothermentionedthatIjustthinkitwasapoorlymadecommercialaretherespecial
sales inFebruary?whileanother respondent said, Evenwith closed captions this isa
difficultmessagetodecipher.
9. NationwideThe insurancecompanyNationwide featuredaspokespersonchattingwithawoman
onabench,whohadalargeboulderrightoverherhead.Throughoutthecommercial,it
keptshrinking
to
size
until
it
became
alittle
pebble.
This
rock
represented
the
vanishing
deductiblethatNationwideoffers.Thewordsvanishingdeductibleappearedonscreen;
theirsloganwasnotdisplayedonscreenbutwasspoken:Nationwideisonyourside!
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answered insurance.Whenaskedwhat thesloganwasafter the firstviewing, 10people
(24%)
answered
vanishing
deductible.
Fivepeople(12%)cameupwithNationwideisonyourside,withtwoofthemstating
that they only know the slogan from other commercials. After watching it with
captioning, 8 people (19%) still answered vanishing deductible, but 25 people (58%)
wereable
to
answer
Nationwide
is
on
your
side.
The
rest
were
unsure.
Whatmessagewerethecreatorstrying tosend?The first time,answersvaried from
Theyshrinktherockaboveyoutofeelbetter,toVisuallyunsureotherthanvanishing
deductible service, and from Nationwide insurance helps vanish deductibles, to
Nationwide will make the rock get smaller and smaller. Watching it with closed
captioning helped some respondents to learn that the longer you drive without
accidents, your deductible will get smaller. Only from Nationwide insurance. One
comment
was
Well
reduce
your
car
deductible
by
$100
every
year
as
long
as
youre
a
gooddriver.OnementionedthatNationwideistryingtoscareyou,claimingthatahigh
deductible is the worst thing to have as an insuree. All in all, 19 people (44%)
mentioned safe driving after the secondviewing,while after the firstviewingnot one
respondentmentioned
it.
For 35 (81%) of respondents, closed captioning changed the meaning of the
commercial.Commentsincluded:
f
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Didntonlytalkaboutinsurancebutusingtheirspecificservicetoget$100off.
Ijustfoundoutitwasforcarinsurancespecifically. Didntknowofthedeal,nowIllcheckitout. Ididntknow that thedeductible loweredwhenyouwere a gooddriverwithoutthecaptions.
Itchangedbigtimeformebecausewithoutthecaptioning,Iwasnotabletoknow theNationwide slogan. Insurancedeductibles are annoying,and
thiscommercialdoesmakemewanttochecktheirwebsiteandgetaquote.
Lastly,inthefirstcommercial,itdidntreallyindicatewhatinsuranceitwas
for (home, car, or life) until the second commercialwith the captioning
showedgooddriver.
10.WalgreensThe Walgreens commercial introduced Mary, a woman who consulted with a
pharmacistafter seeinga sign fora freebloodpressure test.The logoof theAmerican
HeartAssociation appeared onscreen before theWalgreens logo and its slogan (both
spokenanddisplayedonscreen):Theresawaytostaywell.
At first when asked what the product or service being sold was 21 people (49%)
P f
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onthecaptioned informationof$1eachpurchasebeingdonatedtotheAmericanHeart
Association
in
February
only.
Thesloganwas recognizedby29 (67%)peopleafter the firstviewing,and33 (77%)
afterthesecond.OtheranswersincludedFreebloodpressuretest,whilestillotherssaid
Walgreens.The commercialsmessage conveyed a general sense ofWalgreens caring
aboutyour
heart
and
offering
free
blood
pressure
tests.
The
fact
that
$1
would
be
donated
to theAmericanHeartAssociationwas includedby 12people (28%) in theiranswer to
whatmessagethecreatorstriedtosend,butnooneincludedthisafterthefirstviewing.
Theoverallvisualclarityofthiscommercialwasrankedat6withamodeof5.
The addition of closed captioning changed themeaning of the commercial for 34
(79%)ofrespondents,and24people(56%)saidthatthecaptionsinformedthemofthe$1
donationtocharity.CommentsincludedFoundoutthatfreebloodpressurescreeningis
only
in
February.
Without
captions,
I
thought
it
was
all
the
time,
I
didnt
know
theyll
donate$toAmericanHeartAssociationuntilIreadcaptions.Veryimportantinformation
that was missing! Before the captioning I thought that the heart association was
sponsoring the blood pressure tests, and Precaptionsmessage saidWHAT they do.
Captionsexplained
WHY.
Captions
added
warmth
to
the
brand.
Characteristicsoftelevisioncommercialswithclearvisualmessages
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developmentofthecodingtable,whichconsistsofanexhaustive listingrelevanttothis
study
although
not
necessarily
exhaustive
for
advertising
in
general.
Recurrent
themes
appeared in the survey comments referring to similar characteristics among the
commercials.
Thesecharacteristicsincludeproductorserviceplacement,numberofshots,number
ofactors,
text,
logos
and
slogans,
camera
vantage
points,
and
visual
paradox.
By
using
these characteristicsasabasisofunderstanding thevisualclarityofa commercial, the
viewerwill be enabled to understand how information isvisually conveyed, and how
miscommunicationmightoccurintheabsenceofsound.
1. Numberofshots.Icountedthenumberofshots ineachcommercialandusedthistotalasbaselinecomparisonforthenumberofshotswhichdirectly includeproduct
(or
service)
placement.
Hellmanns
led
the
group
with
the
greatest
total
number
of
shots (21).Ally Bank and Ghirardelli followed close behind at 16 shots each, and
JCPenneyhad 15shots.Nationwideused 12shots;AT&T,Clairol,andWalgreenshad
nineshotseach,followedbyHallmarkssevenandDennysfour.
2. Product placement. This characteristic might seem obvious, however manycommercialsinthisstudysorelylackvisualplacementoftheactualproductorservice
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commercial was unclear, so the number of product placements could not be
quantified.
Hallmark
displayed
their
cards
in
one
shot,
while
Clairol
only
used
two
shots to display their product.Walgreens displayed the blood pressure test three
times, andDennys showed their sizzlin skillets four times.AT&T andHellmanns
both placed their products in seven shots,whileGhirardelli led the bunchwith 10
shotsof
its
chocolate.
3. Text.Trackingthetextthatappearsonscreen,andthe lengthoftimeit isdisplayed,includinganyfineprint.Thisdoesnotincludelogosandslogans,whichIinvestigated
asaseparatecategory.Walgreensusedtextthemostwithnineshots,andHellmanns
andNationwide used text in eight shots.AT&T,Clairol, andDennys all used textseven times, Ghirardelli six,Ally Bank andJCPenney four, and six, andHallmark
three.
4. Logosandslogans.Textthatappearsonscreenasasloganoraspartofthe logo istracked.While a logomaybe shownon theproductpackaging itself, this category
countedhow
many
times
the
logo
was
placed
explicitly
in
the
center
of
the
frame.
Out
of ten commercials, only four displayed both the logo and slogan onscreen and
included the slogan in the audio track: Ally Bank, Dennys, Hellmanns, and
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5.Number
of
actors.
How
many
actors
appeared
in
the
commercial?
JCPenney
led
the
groupwith themost actors at 15; the next highestwasAlly Bankwith 11 different
actors.Hallmarkusedsevendifferentactors,whileAT&T,Hellmanns,andWalgreens
hadthreeactorseach.ClairolandNationwidebothusedtwoactors,Ghirardellionly
oneand
Dennys
did
not
use
any
actors
in
its
commercial.
This
category
also
divides
actorsintotwosubcategories:talkingheadsandactorsthatarephysicallyactive.
6. Numberofcameravantagepoints.Thischaracteristicincludeswherethecameraissituated.Fromwheredoesthecamerawatchthescene?Isitstraightforward,ordoes
itseemtobeoutside,lookingin?Dotheactorslookingatthecamera,orawayfrom
it?Does the perspectivevary or remain consistent? The commercialsvaried from
having
one
to
three
vantage
points
each.
Clairol,
Dennys,
Ghirardelli,
Nationwide,
andWalgreens all had threevantage points,whileAlly Bank andAT&T used two
vantage points to present their advertisements. The rest of the commercials
Hallmark,Hellmanns,andJCPenneyusedonlyonecameravantagepoint.
7. Visual paradox. Any visual paradoxes or surprising juxtapositions might behumoroustoahearingviewerwhoreceivesadditionalsounddata,buttheyaresimply
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Hallmark,JCPenney, and Nationwide. Clairol had amediumratedvisual paradox,
whiletheotherfivewereratedlow;meaningtheproductorservicewasdisplayedina
typicalorexpectedscenario.Itappearsthatcommercialsforservicessuchasbanking
orcarinsurancehaveachallengeinfeaturingtheirservicesinavisuallyclearmanner.
Thefull
coding
of
each
commercial
can
be
found
in
Appendix
B.
These
codes
were
comparedtocommentsfromthesurveyrespondents.
Viewercommentsonvisualclarity
Fortheviewers,themeaningsofthreecommercialsdidnotchangewiththeaddition
ofclosedcaptioning:Clairol,Ghirardelli,andJCPenney.TheClairolcommercialseemed
tobecleartoviewersbecauseofthespokespersonwhoshoweddifferentshadesofcolor,
andtheexplicitvisualprocessofapplyingthecoloringtooltothewomansrootstodye
them.TheGhirardellicommercialwasveryclearduetotheproduct itwassellingthe
chocolate piece, and the pleasure the woman got from eating it. The JCPenney
commercialwasplainlyconfusing,withorwithoutclosedcaptioning.
Whenasked
to
rank
the
visual
clarity
of
each
commercial,
Clairol
and
Dennys
were
thetoptwoclearestcommercials,withAllyBankandGhirardellifollowingclosebehind.
RespondentsratedAT&T,HallmarkandJCPenneyinthebottomthree.Thecodingtable
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g 3 95
WhydidAllyBanksvisual clarity seemhigh to respondentswhile itsmessagewas
difficult todecipherwithoutclosedcaptions?Thismaybebecause respondents ranked
thevisual clarity of each commercial beforeviewing the captionedversions, andwere
unawareofhowmuch informationtheyweremissing.Anothercontributing factormay
be that thephysicalactivityof the actors in theAllyBank commercialwashigh; their
gesturesrepresented
emotions
of
frustration
and
impatience,
which
was
clearly
conveyed
totheviewers.AnotherfactormaybethatAllyBankonlyusedthreeinstancesoftextnot
includingtwo logosandaslogannotmuch informationwassentvia text.Thehigher
theinstancesoftext,theclearerthemessageistoviewers.
TheJCPenney commercialwas an unsuccessful campaign thatwas executed badly.
TheadditionofclosedcaptioningdidnothelpviewersunderstandthemessageJCPenney
was trying to send,norwere theyable to identify theproductorservicebeingsold. In
mostcases,ifthereisnolanguagetosupportthevisuals,themeaningislost.Partofthe
problem inJCPenneyscasemaybeattributed to the fact that they sellmore thanone
productadilemma servicecompaniesalso find themselves in.Apparently, thereare
differentdegreesofvisualclarityforadvertisingaproductandsellingaservice.
Talkingheads
Theexceptionsseem tobecommercialsabout food,astheresults from theDennys
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g 33 95
argumentthattelevisionhaserasedtheneedforlanguageasasupportingfactor.Insome
cases commercials solve the communication problem by using talking heads, as one
viewerputit.
Talkingheadsseemtobeafactorinwhetherthemessageisunderstood.Twoofthe
commercials,AT&TandHallmark, featured talkingheadsandrepresented lowphysical
activity,and
thus
fewer
cues
for
the
viewer
to
pick
up
on.
No
visual
information
is
presentedwhenthescreensimplyshowsapersontalking.Physicalactivityisrequiredfor
clarityifthecommercialisheavilyactorcentric,ratherthanproductcentric.
Thenumberofcameravantagepointsseemstohaveacorrelationtovisualclarityofa
commercial.Thethreecommercialshighestrankedforclarityalsohadthemostvantage
points:Clairol,DennysandGhirardelliwiththreevantagepointseach.Thetwolowest
ranked commercials (Hallmark andJCPenney) had only onevantage point each. The
more information theviewer can gather from thevisuals, the clearer themessage is.
Increasedvantagepoints lead tomorevisualclarity for theviewers; theyareextremely
importantwhenaserviceisbeingsoldinsteadofaproductbecauseanabstractscenario
hastogiveasmuchvisualinformationaspossible.
Fineprint
Essentialinformationislostwhenitisnotdisplayedclearlyonscreen.Dennysfailed
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viewers did not read the fineprint.This also happened in the case of theWalgreens
commercial,wheretheadvertisersaddedfineprintatthebottomofthescreenthatsaid,
DonationperiodFeb.1toFeb.29,2012,upto$100,000.
Sevenoutoftencommercialsusedfineprint,whichIdidnotnoticethefirstfewtimes
I watched them: AT&T, Clairol, Dennys, Hellmanns, JCPenney, Nationwide, and
Walgreens.When
Iwatched
them
without
closed
captioning
and
paid
close
attention
to
thefineprintIdiscoveredthatdespiteshowingthefineprintinthecommercial,viewers
didnot register the informationuntil itwasshown in theclosedcaptions.Whatever it
may be a natural inclination to not read the fine print or another factor the fact
remains thatbynot captioning commercials,peoplemissouton essential information
whentheaudioisnotavailable.
This impacts not only deaf people but customers in public places aswell. I often
choosenot to read the fineprint. as the saying goes, simplybecause Iwould rather
focusonthevisualsandcolorsonscreenandmanyothersdotoo,whichisunfortunate
becauseoftentimesthefineprintcontainsthemostessentialinformation,i.e.AT&Tsfine
printaboutpricingrequirementforthedealitoffered.
Brandidentity
Informationtransmissionisnottheonlyreasonitisimperativetouseclosedcaptions
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Ghirardelli,Hellmanns,andWalgreens)commented that thecaptionshelpedconvince
them to decide to purchase their products. As one viewer said to the Walgreens
commercial,withoutthecaptionsthemessageshowedwhattheydid,whilewithcaptions
theviewerunderstoodwhywarmthwasaddedtothebrandwithclosedcaptioning.
Slogans are alsomore effectivelymediatedwith the use ofboth onscreen text and
closedcaptions.
Nationwide
was
the
only
commercial
that
did
not
display
its
slogan
onscreen (JCPenneydidnotevenuseanyaudioor text to show theirslogan),andof5
viewerswhowereabletoanswerwiththecorrectslogan,2mentionedtheyremembered
thesloganfromothercommercials.Thepossibilityremainsthattheother3respondents
sawtheslogansomewhereelseaswell.Withtheadditionofclosedcaptioningafterthe
secondviewing,58%wereabletoidentifythecorrectsloganasbeingNationwideison
yourside.Theincreasewasthehighestcomparedtoothercommercials,withachangeof
20.
TheJCPenneyandHallmarkcommercialsboth sawno change in correct slogan
responsesafterthesecondviewing.Thisisinterestingbecausebothcommercialswerein
the top threewith the highest number of actors, the other beingAlly Bank.Visual
confusionfrom
ahigh
number
of
actors
may
contribute
to
the
lack
of
successful
information transmission. Ally Banks slogan was both onscreen and spoken, and
Hallmarks commercialdisplayed threepossible slogans thatwere confusing,while the
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superimposedinfrontofthesloganyourrightcolor.Televisionsandprovidersvaryin
termsofwheretheyplacetheclosedcaptions.Oneapproachtoavoidthisoverlap isto
make sure text only appears in the center of the screen, and to also include it in the
captioned voiceover. This way, essential information is communicated to theviewer
withoutinterruption.
IV.CONCLUSIONNeil Postmans argument that linguistic discourse has been made obsolete in
televisioncommercialsnolongerholdstrue;Iarguethatithasalwaysbeennecessaryand
still is.There isno replacement for language in sellinga serviceoraproduct.AsPaul
Messaris stated,visual information is incompletewithout theuseof language tomake
explicitstatementsbuteitheronecannotstandonitsown.Thisclaimissupportedby
theviewer comments inmy survey and by the subsequent analysis conducted in this
researchstudy.MichelChionsconceptofventriloquistspeech ispartofavisuallyclear
television commercial that uses closed captioning, and overall is reflective ofGraham
Pullinsresonant
design
concept.
When
atelevision
commercial
encompasses
resonant
designand includescaptioningsothatitsventriloquistspeechcanbeunderstood,100%
oftheinformationissenttotheaudience.
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friendsandwastoldpersonallybyseveralrespondents,amixofbothdeafandhearing,
thattheyhadcompletedthesurvey.Itwouldhavebeenhelpfultoaddaquestionatthe
beginningofthesurveyabouttherespondentshearingstatus.Thiswouldbeadirection
forafutureprojectthatismorecomparativeinnature.Knowingifarespondentisdeaf,
hardofhearingorhearingmayshowwhetherdeafpeoplearebettervisualreadersthan
hearingpeople.
In the case of future research, direct comparisons could be made between
advertising strategies for similar products and services, such as comparing food
commercials from two different restaurants or banking services from two different
companies.Thepossibilityremainsforfurtherdataextractioniftherespondentisasked
againtoratethevisualclarityofthecommercialafterthecaptionedviewing.
Overall,however,Ideterminedthatclosedcaptioningwasasuccessfulvehiclefor
information in the 10 commercials included in the survey.Without closed captioning,
essential informationwasmissed,whether the informationwas displayed onscreen or
not.Thiswasespecially true forservicebasedadvertisements.Althoughadvertiserscan
takecertainsteps toenhance thevisualclarityof theircommercials i.e.morecamera
vantagepoints
and
less
visual
paradox
captioning
still
seems
necessary
for
clear
communication.Theadditionofcaptioningallowedviewerstoconnectwithbrandsand
feelwarmth,and it invokedacalltopurchaseproducts.Inaddition,viewerswereoften
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enough.Thisresearchprovesthattheultimatecharacteristicofavisuallycleartelevision
commercialintheabsenceofsoundisthecombinationofbothonscreentextandclosed
captioning.
In televised commercials, the number of times the product or service was
displayedalsohadacorrelationtohowvisuallyclear thecommercialswereexcept in
thecase
of
Ally
Bank,
where
the
physical
activity
of
the
actors
communicated
the
message. Situations ofvisual paradoxes such asAllyBank,Nationwide, andJCPenney,
where thevisualclaritywas rankedvery low, requireclosedcaptioning to transmit the
message. Commercialswhere the actors are engaging in low physical activity require
closedcaptioningtoprovidediscourse.
Textisadoubleedgedsword.Itisimperativetousetext,butinsomecaseswhen
companiesusefineprint,theirmessageiscompletelymissed.Incaseslikethis,suchas
whenDennysused fineprint to say that theirdealwas fora limited timeonly,closed
captioningmust be used tomake themessage clear. If closed captioning is not used,
potential customers in public spaces, or potential customers who cannot hear the
television,arelostcustomers.
Advertisersmiss
out
on
millions
of
dollars
of
revenue
by
not
investing
in
the
almost45millionpeoplewithhearingloss,andtheevengreaternumbersofpeoplewho
watch television inpublic spaces. Somepeoplemute the televisionwhile leaving iton
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openupanewmarketandensurethecorrectreceptionofotherwisevisuallyambiguous
ads.
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V.BIBLIOGRAPHYChion,Michel.Audiovision;SoundonScreen.NewYork:ColumbiaUniversity,2004.
ClosedCaptioningGuide.FederalCommunicationsCommission,2011.Web.21November2011. http://www.fcc.gov/guides/closedcaptioning.
Cury,Ivan.TVCommercials:HowtoMakeThem,or,HowBigistheBoat?Oxford:Elsevier,2005.
Downey,Greg.ClosedCaptioning:Subtitling,Stenography,andtheDigitalConvergenceofTextwithTelevision.Baltimore:JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress,2008.
Messaris,Paul.VisualPersuasion:TheRoleofImagesinAdvertising.London:sagePublications,1997.
Mitchell,Rose.
Can
you
tell
me
how
many
deaf
people
there
are
in
the
United
States?
GallaudetResearchInstitute.Web.February2005.http://research.gallaudet.edu/Demographics/deafUS.php.
NationalCaptioningInstitute.Web.10November2011.http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/pages/caption.aspx.
Postman,Neil.AmusingOurselvestoDeath.NewYork:ThePenguinGroup,1985.
Pullin,Graham.DesignMeetsDisability.Cambridge:MITPress,2009.
Rose,Gillian.VisualMethodologies.London:SagePublications,2001.
Seiter,Ellen.TelevisionandNewMediaAudiences.London:OxfordUniversityPress,1999.
Sturken,Marita
and
Lisa
Cartwright.
Practices
of
Looking.
New
York:
Oxford
University
Press,2001.
Williams,Raymond.Advertising:TheMagicSystem.TheCulturalStudiesReader.Ed.Simon During. London: Routledge, 1993. 320335.
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VI.APPENDICES
AppendixA.Linkstocommercialsusedinthisresearch.Commercial Nocaptions ClosedcaptionsAlly
Bank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al7Kb9IWszU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbA6VGV1VxY
AT&T http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5mpYSlm_2Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg3dyJyxoEM
Clairol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkJsYvho5gk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXrs2M05fSw
Dennys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJMBuIOCID4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtjac33DqgE
Ghirardelli http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Io_wMcC_ho http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI7IT9PR3HE
Hallmark http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUExeCTTOxk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA3AMdH8BC0
Hellmanns http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_xVQxe2vLI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRZFQb820lg
JCPenney http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ss2QJ4mhW4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcpxBlLQEHs
Nationwide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_4HaCL0ha0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMVHxawiaww
Walgreens http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XesQOiR4LXE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUS8GCAIzSA
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AppendixB.Codingtableofcommercialsusedinthesurvey.AD #
shots
Product/serviceplacement
Text Sloganandlogo
#actors
Numberofcameravantagepoints VisualParadox
AllyBank(30seconds)
16 0shots 4appearances1.Pleaseuseblenderforhelp2.Makingyoutalktoamachineisnuts.3.MemberFDIClogo4.allybank.com/1877247ALLY
Both(sloganonscreenandspoken)
11 2Point1:BehindthecounterPoint2:Fromasecuritycamerainthefront,showingthebacksofthefigures
High(drycleanersrepresentingbadcustomerservice)
AT&T(30seconds) 9 7shots(kidplayingwithtablet)
7appearances1.(fineprint)Screenimagessimulated.2.(fineprint)Waterproofagainstincidentalexposuretowater,whereverports(incl.USBandearphoneports)aretightlyclosed.NOTdesignedorintendedforinwateruse.Submersibleupto1meterforupto30minutes.3.(fineprint)Limited4GLTEavailabilityinselectmarkets.4.BuyanElement$249.99with2yearagreementandmin.monthlydataplan.5.
(fine
print)
Bundle
purchase
(Pantech
Elementwith2yragreementandmin.$39/modataplanandPantechBurstwith2yragreementwithvoice(min.$39.99/mo)andmin.dataplan($20/mo)required.Othercharges,termsandconditionsapply.Limitedtimeoffer.6.GetaBurstFreewith2yragreementandmin.monthlydataplan.7.att.com/element 866.Mobility
Both(sloganonscreen,butunspoken)
3
2Point1:FromthekidlookingattheparentsPoint2:Fromtheparentslookingatthekid
Low(tabletbeingplayedwithinanicekitchen)
Clairol(15
seconds)
9 2shots(the
box
and
thetool,0.5second)
7appearances1.Product
box
2.100%graycoverage3.(fineprint)vs.otherretailrootproducts.4.(fineprint)simulation.5.50%moreshades6.Productboxes(atleast20)7.www.clairol.com
Sloganonly(onscreen,
butunspoken,logowasshownonboxes)
2 3Point
1:Entering
elevator
Point2:ReflectioninmirrorPoint3:Abovewomansheadtoshowroots
Medium(checking
hair
in
elevator
mirror,thencoloringitrightaway)
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Requiredmax.credit:$500.Detailsandavailabilityvarystatebystate.6.nationwide.comoralocalagent7.(fineprint)Productunderwrittenby
NationwideMutual
Insurance
Company
and
AffiliatedCompanies.Columbus,OH.Subjecttounderwriterguidelines,review,andapproval.Productanddiscountsnotavailabletoallpersonsinallstates.8.nationwide.comoralocalagent
Walgreens(30seconds) 9 3shots(2ofblood
pressuretestand1ofsign
advertising
it)
9appearances1.Montageofprescriptionbottleandlogo2.FreeBloodPressureTestssign3.Freebloodpressuretest.Walkinswelcome.
4.
(fine
print)
Restrictions
apply.
See
participatinglocationorWalgreens.comforfulltermsandconditions.FLORIDARESIDENTS:Additionaltermsandconditionsapply.5.TakeCareCliniclogo6.AmericanHeartAssociationlogo7.(fineprint)DonationperiodFeb.1toFeb.29,2012,upto$100,0008.WaytoWellCommitmentlogo9.(fineprint)walgreens.com/hearthealth
Both(sloganonscreenandspoken,
slogan
also
shownonbannerinbackground,logoshowntwice)
3 3Point1:Behindthecustomer,thensheturnsaround
Point
2:
Behind
customer
whileconsultingPoint3:Behindpharmacistwhileconsulting
Low(scenesareinsideWalgreensitself)
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AppendixC.Completeresultsfromthesurvey.(Note:InthesecondlastcolumnofeachcommercialtablewhereitsaysChange? thevalue of 1 representsyes, and thevalue of 2 represents no, to answer the question ofwhether captionschangedthemeaningofthecommercial.)
1.AllyBankWhatistheproductorservicebeingsold? Whatistheslogan?
Whatisthemessagethecreatorsaretryingtosend? Rank
Whatistheproductorservicebeingsold?
Whatistheslogan?
Whatisthemessagethecreatorsaretryingtosend? Change? Ifyes,howdiditchangeforyou?
drycleaning
nononsense.justpeoplesense.
Itistellingpeoplethatwearehookedtotechnology
andablender
machine
is
theretohelpthem.Whenpeoplerealizetheydonotgethelptheyneed,weneedpeopleratherthantechnologyitself. 4 AllyBank
nononsense.justpeoplesense. sameasabove 1
gainedmycomprehensionofthecommercial
24/7Live
Bank
Service
NoNonsense.
JustPeople
Sense
Talkingtorecordingmachineonthephonesucks!Youalwaysreceive
livehuman
service
with
Ally
Bank. 924/7
Live
Bank
Service
YouneedanallyandNoNonsense.
JustPeople
Sense
ThatAllystronglybelieves
thatyou
should
be
able
to
reachaliveperson24.7 2
Bankcompany
Nononsense.Justpeoplesense
ThatifyoujoinourBank,youwillnotwait. 8 Bankcompany
Nononsense.justpeoplesense
Thatifwebecomeamemberoftheirbank,wewillhaveanallywewillnottalktorecordedmachines.Wewillhaveanally,realpeopletotalkto. 1
TherewasanarratortalkingthatIdidn'tcatchinthefirstcommercialthathadnosubtitles.Iunderstoodwhatitwasreallytryingtotellmeinthesecondone.
blender noidea notsure 1 Banking
talkingtomachines
are
annoying ally
bank
uses
people
not
machines 1 iunderstooditbetter
Banking Allybank
ItstryingtosaythatwhenyoucallAllybank,youwon'tbetalkingtoamachinebuttoaliveperson. 10 Banking Allybank
ThatyouwillhavealivepersonwhencallingAllybank. 2
Ally(bankingservices) Realpeople?
ThatAllyusesrealpeopleinsteadofmachines(likeautomatedphonesystems) 4
Ally(bankingservices)
Nononsense,justpeoplesense
Thattheyuserealpeopleinsteadofmachines. 2
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sense Justpeoplesense
AllyBank
Nononsense.
Justpeople
sense.
Thatpeopleshouldn'thavetotalktomachinesfor
service,so
at
this
bank
you
dealwithpeople. 8 AllyBank
Nononsense.
Justpeople
sense.
Thatpeopleshouldn'thavetotalktomachines
forservice,
so
at
this
bank
youdealwithpeople. 2
allybank
talkingtomachineisnonsense
talkingtoablenderisannoying 2
customerserviceofallybank
nononsense.justpeoplesense.
allybankenablesyoutotalktorealpeopleforcustomerservice,notjustmachineresponders. 1
iunderstoodbetterthesloganandthepurposeoftheblenderandpeople'sannoyancewithotherbanksandhowallybankisdifferent.
ally abank?
"nononsense"orsomethingsimilar. "onlypeoplesense"
youwillalwaysbeabletotalktoarealpersonifyouneedservice,therefor,theyasacompanycare 10 AllyBank
NoNonsense,JustPeopleSense
Theylistentocustomerconcernsandchangepoliciesaccordingly so,theycare 1
onlyslightly thedifferencebetween"other
banks
make
you
talk
to
machines"and"wenotonlydon'tmakeyoutalktomachinesweactuallylistenedwhenyoutoldustostopdoingthat"
Banking
"Makingyoutalktoamachineisnuts"
Theyprovidepersonalcustomerservice,nomachines 10 Banking
"makingyoutalktoamachineisnuts"
Again talkingtoapersonisbetter 2
customerservice
Makingyoutalktoamachineisnuts
AllyBankprovidesthebestcustomerservicecomparedtoanybank. 7
CustomerService
Makingyoutalktoamachineisnuts.
Allybankhascustomerservice24/7,ratherthanautomatedmachineservicefromotherbanks. 2
Isawthecommercialbeforesoitishardtoanswerapproperiately
AllyBank
Talkingtoamachineisnuts
AllyBankhassuperiorcustomerservicecomparedtootherbanks. 7 AllyBank
Nononsense.Justpeoplesense.
AllyBankoffers24/7livecustomerassistance. 2
Banking Nononsense.
Mostotherbanks(andindustries,forthatmatter)forcecustomerstogo
throughautomated
customerservicephonetreeservices. Thecommercialistryingtoshowhowfrustratingitisforpeopletodothat. 8 Same.
Same.(it'sattheendoftheclip)
Customerserviceneedstobepeopledriven,andshouldnotrequiremachinestoaccomplish. 2
AllyBank
Nononsense.Justpeoplesense.
Thecompanydoesn'tuseautomatedansweringservices. 5 AllyBank
Nononsense.Justpeople
Thebankhashumanoperatorsansweringitsphonelines. 2
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")
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nuts.")
personalizedservicewithhumancommunication
commuicatingwithtechnologyisnuts
not
to
go
to
robots
10
accessiblecommunication24/7
noaccessiblityisnonsense
to
switch
with
the
bank
1
Clearinformation=clearermessage
custumerservice
machineverstalkingtosomeone
Talktopeopleinsteadofamachine 4 assistance
Machinevrs.reallifeperson
custumerserviceatabankinsteadoftalkingtomachine 2 theccdistractedme
BankingServices
Doestalkingtoamachinedriveyounuts?
ThatAllyBankhaspeoplenotmachingtotalkto 10
Bankingservices
Doestalkingtoamachinedriveyounuts?
Allyoffersrealpeopletodealwithnotmachines. 2
nothing
talkingto
a
machineisnonsense
usetheirbankinsteadofmachine 1 bank
no
nonsense
justpeoplesense
cometotheirbankbecuz
theyhave
people
to
help
youinsteadtalkingtothewallatotherbanks 1 subtitles
customerservice
NoNonsense.JustPeopleSense
Themessageisthatcustomerslikehumaninteractionbetterthantryingtointeractwithmachines. 6
Beingabletotalktoaperson24/7
NoNonsense.JustPeopleSense
Thatthecustomerswanthumaninteraction24/7andthisbankprovidethat. 2 N/A
bankmembership don'tknow
personalservice
from
humanbeings 2bank
membership
nononsense
justpeople
sensepersonal
service
from
humanbeings 2
fabric
Nononsense.Justpeoplesense
Talkingtomachineisunhumanfeeling. 7 fabric
Nononsense.Justpeoplesense
Talkingtomachineisunhumanfeeling. 2
badservice ally toserveyourself 2
customerservicenotmachines
Youneedanally
Nomachines.peoplemakesense 1
Icouldfigureoutwhatwashappening
drycleanersortailors
talking
to
a
machinedrivespeoplenuts
weneedhumancontactforservice 3 Bank
needan
ally
to
talk
toapersonratherthanamachine
thatallybankofferspersonalservices 1 themessagewasmoreclear
BANKINGservices
makingyoutalkingtomachinesiscrazy
hmmnottodwellonthemachines,butyoucanhaveinteractions(HUMAN)toresolveyourissues 9
bankingservices
nononsensejustpeople
hmmnottodwellonthemachines,butyoucanhaveinteractions(HUMAN)toresolveyourissues 2
n/athemeaningwassameforme
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2.AT&TWhatistheproductorservicebeingsold? Whatistheslogan?
Whatisthemessagethecreatorsaretryingtosend? Rank
Whatistheproductorservicebeingsold?
Whatistheslogan?
Whatisthemessagethecreatorsaretryingtosend? Change? Ifso,howdiditchangeforyou?
tabletrethinkpossible
Tablets,mobilephoneisgoodforchildren,theywillkeepthembusy.Inotherword,ababysitter. 4
Waterprooftablet
rethinkpossible
It'dbeallrightforchildrentoplaytabletanditissafe.Waterproof. 1
Closedcaptioninghelpmetounderstandthemessage,soIcanunderstandthemeaningbehindthecommercial
Buyone
get
one
free
withATT.Elementandsomethingelse. Noidea Veryhardtotell. 4 Element
Waterproof,4GLTE
ThatElementiswaterproofandexcellent
forkids.
Didn't
really
see
anyhumorinthiscommerical. 1
Didntknowthatitwaswaterproof.
Phone/computerdevicesfromATTcompany
Idontrememberseeingany.
Thatthedeviceshelpskidsbecomeintelligent. 3
Phone/computerdevices
RethinkPossiblities
Thatthekidsunderstandwordsbetterthaneverwiththehelpofthedevices.Parentshadtospellthemoutsothatthechildwuldntcatchit?ORitgotparents
brainwashed
on
spelling
everythingbecausethekidplayseducationalappthatteacheshimhowtospellallthetime? 2 n/a
tablet noideatobuytheirtabletatat&t 3
awaterprooftablet
canwestopspelltalking
evenalittlekidcanplayonthetabletwithoutbrakingit 1 understoodbetter
Elementtablet AttThastweshouldgetanElementtablet. 4 Elementtablet Att
GoandbutanElementtabletasitswaterproof,etc. 1
Itmademeunderstandthecommercialmore.
Tablet/smartphonebyAT&T Dunno Notsure. 1 Elementtablet Dunno.
Ireallydidn'tunderstandthiscommercial...whyaretheparentsspellingoutthewaytheytalk?Idon'tgetit. 2
TabletPCorphoneRethinkPossible Don'tknow 3 PCtablet.
Rethinkpossible Helpschildrenlearn 1
Captionmadethecommercialclearer.
ipadlikerethinkpossible
toyslikeiPadkeepchildrenbusy. 1 sameasabove
sameasabove sameasabove 2
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element was waterproof
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elementtablet
waswaterproof.
"element" somethinglikeaniPadoradrone? noidea
um. kidsneedexpensivetoys? lookedliketheparentswereconfused,soitseemedsatirical,thensoldthephone.dunno. 3 Element4gLTE
Stilldon'tknow
Productisindestructible or,standsuptokidsplayingaroundwithit 1
Theexpressionontheparents'faceswas
explainedw/o
CC
it
lookedliketheywereworryingabouttheirkid,nottheirphone Iguessworryingaboutthephonecouldbefunny,thoIthinkit'salittleinsulting,butthen,Iratherdislikeconsumerism
Cellphoneservices Don'tknow
Getyourkidatablet,andaphoneforyourself? 3
awaterprooftablet
Goahead
and
have
yourkidplaywiththetablet
Thewaterprooftabletissafeenoughforyourkidtoplaywith 1
Bigtime makesitlessofaninvestmenttogetyourkidatabletdevice
AT&Ttabletrethinkpossible
tablethaschildproofprogramchildrencanusewithoutdestroyingorlosinganyinformationonthetablet. 4
AT&Telementtablet
RethinkPossible
Thetabletiswaterproof,childproofiguessandpossiblythebesttabletonthemarket. 1
IunderstoodthemessagebetterwhenIknowwhatthepeoplearesayinginthecommerical
ATTAndroidtabletsandsmartphones ???
ATThasavarietyoftabletoptions 6
ATTPantech
ElementTabletandafreeBurstsmartphone ???
TheElementis
waterproofand
is
perfect
forfamilieswithyoungchildrenbutareunabletoaffordaniPad. 1
Insteadofapplyingtojust
itsAndroid
lineup,
the
commercialnowfocusesonthePantechElementasanoptionforfamilies.
CellPhone
for
AT&TRethink
Possible Somethingaboutkids? 3
Smartphone
tabletfrom
AT&TRethink
Possible
Thatthedeviceis
waterproofand
therefore,
childproof. 1
Originally,IthoughtthecommercialwasfocusingontheunderlyingservicethatAT&Tprovides.Readingthecaptioning,Irealizedthey'retalking
aboutthe
device
itself
and
its"toughness".
AT&Ttablet. noanswerTabletiseasytouse;freephonewithtablet. 3
Tabletand4GservicefromAT&T noanswer
Tabletiswaterproof,has4G;freephonewithpurchase. 1
AT&T,anElementRethinkPossible
goandbuyElementkeepyourkidsbusy. 4
AT&T,anElement
RethinkPossible
Thosedevicessuitstheparentswhohavethechildrenandthosedevicesareobviously 1
NowIcompletelyunderstoodthepointofthiscommercialandtheirwayofmarketing.
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liquidproof? getsmart with4g thecommercial,withoutit
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q p g 4gIwasn'tsurewhatthemessagewas.
tablet ??kidmaybtooyoungtoplaywiththetablet 1
tabletwaterproof
rethinkpossible
parentshouldntb
worriediftheir
kids
play
withtabletbecuzitswaterproofed 1 subtitles
TabletRethinkPossible
Thatthetabletiseasytouseeventhekidcanuseit. 3
waterproofcover.
RethinkPossible
Theyprovideprotectioncoversothekidcanusethetablet 1
Ithoughtitmeanteasytousewhenitactuallymeantprotection.
anelement don'tknow kidsliketechnology? 2 tabletdevicerethinkpossible
kidsliketechnologysobuyitforthem 1
Tablets/Moblie
No
idea
It'sokayforkidtoplay
tablet?
3
Tablets
Tabletforeveryone
ageless
Kidcanusetabletwithoutdamgeit alsoit
make
them
smarter.
1
Humorscripthelpmeunderstandthebehind
message
of
commercial.
elementAttrethinkpossible
anyonecanusetheproductsevenachild 4 element
Rethinkpossible
reliable,durable,andeducational 1 addedvalueandcontent
phoneorgame dontknow don'tknow 4 game
theproducdthelpswithspelling? theproduceiscool 1
mobiledevicesrethinkpossibilies
toexpandonyourpotentialwithdifferentbrands 3 tablet
rethinkthepossibilites
youcanreceiveatabletthatiswaterproofff 1 clarityinmessages
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3.ClairolWhatistheproductorservicebeingsold?
Whatistheslogan?
Whatisthemessagethecreatorsaretryingtosend? Rank
Whatistheproductorservicebeingsold? Whatistheslogan? Whatisthemessagethecreatorsaretryingtosend? Change? Ifyes,howdiditchangeforyou?
Hairdyeproduct
yourrightcolor
Thehairdyeproductwillmaintainhaircolortoitsroots,tomakehairlookhealthy 8
Hairdyeproduct
Yourrightcolor Sameasabove 2
Theclosedcaptioninghelpedmetounderstandwhatthecompanyissaying....itiswelladverstiedifwithoutclosedcaptioning.
RootHair
Color
your
right
colorOur
product
meets
your
needs. 7
RootHair
Color.Root
n
TouchNice
and
easyOur
product
meets
your
needs. 2
HaircolorBox
coveryourgreyroots
Tobuythiscolordyebox,youwillbeabletocoveryourgrayroots. 9 Roottouchup
Roottouchupbyniceandeasydyebox
UsethisNiceandEasyroottouchups,willsaveurtimeandlife. 2 n/a
hairroottouchup
itcoversurroots
buythisanditcoverurrootsforallcolorsofhair 7
hairroottouchup nice&easy
itcoversyourhairrootforalltypesofhairtomakeyouhappy 2
Hairdye
Clairol
Togoandgethairdye,
it'seasy
and
quick.
7
Hairdye
Clairol
Theresmorecoloravailable
andvery
efficient.
2
Haircoloringproducts
Imissedit!
Thatyoucanusethisproducttoquicklyandeasilytouchupyourroots. 10
Haircoloring(roottouchup)
Youmaybegoingupbutyourrootsaregoingdown!(That'sthelineIremembered)
Thatit'seasytotouchupyourrootswiththisproductandyoucanfindanyshadethatfitsyourhaircolor. 1
TheCCmadeitabitclearerthatyoucouldfindanycolortomatchyourhaircolor.
Hairdye
your
rightcolor Don'tletyourrootsshow. 3 hairdye yourrightcolor don'tletyourrootsshow 2
hairrootdyestuff
yourrightcolor
theyhavethebestroottouchup 8 sameasabove
sameasabove sameasabove 2
quickhaircolorroottouchups
yourrightcolor
thattheirhaircoloringproductworksamazinglyfastandmakesyoulookfabulous! 7
roottouchuphaircoloringproduct
niceandeasy/yourrightcolor
thattheyhavetherighthairproductforyou,withtheir50differentcolorpalette,and100%greycoverage! 2
IknowIsaidno,butIwantedtoexplainmostlyofwhattextthatappearsonthecommercialsuchas"100%greycoverage"isalready
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andcomesin50colors. comesin50colors.
root touch 50 more colors for root i learned few more things about
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roottouchup ?
50morecolorsforroottouchupproduct 3 roottouchup niceandeasy new50colorsavailable 1
ilearnedfewmorethingsabouttheproduct
Roottouch
upfor
peoplewhodyetheirhairtocoverupgrey.
Missedit.
There'saneasyroottouchupkitthatcomesinmanycolors. 6
Roottouchupkitforpeoplewhodyetheirhair.
Couldn'tseeit,captionscovereditup.
Nice&Easyhasmanycolorsthatcanseamlesslymatchyourhairdye,andit'seasytouse. 1
Itclarifiedthemessage.Iunderstoodthebasicmessagebutitmadeitevenmoreclear.
hairproducts
fixyourcolor
tobuytheirproductswhenyouarenothappywithyourcolor 4
roottouchupproducts
goingupbutrootsarebringingyoudown
thatyou'llgoupwithrightcolor! 1
Therearedifferentshadesofcolor.iwouldneverhaveknownthatifididn'thaveaccesstocaptions.
haircolorproduct
we
have
thehairprodcttomakeyourhaircolor hairrootcolor 8
hairrootcolorer
haircolorvariation gethaircolor 2
RootTouchup
Coverthegray
Theyhasaproduct(dye)thatcantouchupyourrootsfastandmanycolorstochosefrom. 7 Rootcoverage
100%Rootcoverage
Theyhave50shadestochoosefromforcoloringyourroots 1
Itwasabitclearerwiththecaption.
rootscoverup
your
rightcolor
thereare
many
different
shadestomatchyourhaircolor 7 roottouchup
yourrightcolor
youcan
do
it
anywhere
even
5
minsbeforeyourimportantmeeting 1 sutbtitles
Roottouchup
Yourrightcolor
Easytodyejusttherootpart 9 Roottouchup
YourRightColor
It'seasytodoaroottouchupwithouthavingtodyetheentirehair. 2 N/A
hairdye
your
right
coloryou
can
dye
your
hair
quickly 6 hairdyeyour
right
coloryou
can
touch
up
your
roots